The Gophers men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams earned decisive wins Friday over Wisconsin at the University Aquatic Center.
The women continued their undefeated streak with a 183-112 win over the Badgers. The men came back from two weeks off of dual meets to beat the Badgers 191-100.
“It was a complete meet from start to finish,” head men’s and women’s coach Kelly Kremer said. “And it’s the best we’ve swum so far all year.”
The women recorded their fastest times of the season in 12 of the 16 events, a trend Kremer said he would like to continue until the postseason.
In somewhat uncharacteristic fashion, the Big Ten champions didn’t win every event — the Badgers beat the Gophers in two.
Wisconsin’s Ivy Martin won the 50-yard freestyle while teammate Hannah Ross won the 200-yard backstroke.
Martin has been the only non-Minnesota swimmer to garner a Big Ten weekly award since Minnesota started its season. She earned Co-Swimmer of the Week honors Oct. 16.
Minnesota freshman Lauren Votava placed third in the 50 freestyle, but she bested Martin in the 100 freestyle with a time of 50.76 seconds.
“Her 50 was amazing, and I think her 100 was, too,” Votava said. “I don’t like to lose, but if I have to lose, she was very sportsmanlike and very nice about it.”
On the boards, Minnesota swept the top-three spots in the 3-meter dive. Junior Maggie Keefer placed first with a score of 313.05, followed by junior Sarah McCrady and senior Katie Grunawalt.
But on 1-meter, Keefer was the only one to crack the podium with her first-place score of 295.2. McCrady would have taken second, but her score was counted as an exhibition.
As for the 13th-ranked men, Kremer said it was “the best meet we’ve put together.”
But Kremer doesn’t attribute the success to the team’s ranking.
“The college swimming ranking is always never really a good indicator in terms of where people are going to finish at the end of the year,” Kremer said. “I think right now we are a dual-meet team that’s proving to be a pretty tough team.”
The men won 13 of 16 events and posted the fastest times in 13 events.
Sophomore CJ Smith said his team performed well because it loves competing against Big Ten opponents.
Smith won the 1,000 freestyle in 9:10.98 and placed second in the 500 freestyle to the Badgers’ Michael Weiss.
Weiss won all three events the Gophers lost — the 500 freestyle, the 200 freestyle and the 400 individual medley.
But Smith said he wasn’t too concerned about dropping a race at this point in the season.
“It’s just another dual meet, and at the dual meets, the most important thing is for our team to succeed,” Smith said.
Juniors Kyler Van Swol and Derek Toomey each won four events against Wisconsin. Both placed first in the 200 medley relay and 400 freestyle relay. Van Swol also won the 100 and 200 butterflies, while Toomey also won the 50 and 100 freestyles.
The men would have swept both diving events, but some scores weren’t counted. Senior Mikey Ross had the top score in 1-meter, and sophomore Jordan Lesser had the top score in 3-meter.
Both teams will host another Big Ten rival, Iowa, next weekend.
